November 14 -- A Well House Mystery, Mr. Broad-Billed Returns, and More South Fork Hike Photos

Two young male Coues deer are getting quite bold in chowing down the bird seed. They can't get to the seed tray that is up 60 inches, though one smelled it; I could see him sniffing in its direction. The other places I put the seed is in one of the old wooden trays (I kept that one as it's in better shape than the one I removed) and 2 wooden stumps that the birds love. However, the deer go to get to those if I'm not around. And even when I am, they walk right into the yard and go for it. I try to shoo them away but they won't move, just look at me curiously. Then I run at them, and that chases one away into the mesquite (he probably returns when I'm not watching) and the other more or less stands his ground to where I'm less than 10 feet away from him. I suppose I can get deer food at the supply store in Douglas -- but where will it all end? I don't want to put up a fence as the other deer, including Mom and he 3 little ones, use the water feature every day; in fact, I saw them again and after drinking sauntered into the front yard, nibbled on some mesquite, then walked down my driveway (aka S. Faranuf Trail). I guess I'll have to check on Amazon and see if I can buy more seed trays that are higher -- but they'll detract from the view just as those large, weird looking feeder hangers did. I never knew when I moved into Faranuf that deer going after the bird food would be a concern...

There are some things that happen that are inexplicable; they happen once, you wonder why they happen -- and worry that it might happen again. I few days ago I went into the well house -- and floor was wet. Well, damp in spots -- and wet with a bit of standing water in the corner where the well pressure tank is, long with the pipe containing the 2 water filters. Crap!  I don't need a major water leak at this time -- or ever. I'd bought a wet/dry vacuum cleaner for a faster way to remove the water from the 2 water features, so I used it to suck up the standing water, then blotted the damp area with a towel. I checked the pipes, pressure tank and water softener tanks for leaks -- nothing. I checked the water pressure gauge for a possible drop in water pressure, but it was fine -- about 39 psi. Water pressure out here is usually between 30 and 50psi. And I should have water for, well, forever, as the water level underground is at 48 feet or so, and the well is 270 feet deep. It's a pretty large aquifer in the San Simon Valley --though pistachio and pecan growers up San Simon way on the I-10 are thinking of pumping more water from it. It's a bit controversial, as some of the new growers are from Central California and moved here because of the drought there...Oh, I never found the source of the water leak in the well house, and the water on the floor hasn't returned. But still, it's in the back of my mind...

So far, the backyard birds haven't been "exotics". My friends Lori and Mark up the road have had rare Plain-capped Starthoat hummingbirds in at their back yard feeders, and just recently had 2 White-throated Sparrows , too. Me, I can't even keep the lone male Northern Cardinal that occasionally visits. My birds consist mostly of a White-crowned Sparrow flock,, House Finches, a few Black-throated Sparrows, plenty of Mourning and Eurasian Collared Doves, a Green-tailed Towhee (nice), Pyrrluloxia (also nice), and a Roadrunner or two. The recent hummingbirds have been mostly Anna's -- but with the variety of hummingbirds that can be found here (and a lot of the juvenile females can be a challenge to ID) most of the time I really don't know that I'm getting. (But I've only been here for 3 months now.) However, there's been a rather special "guest" that's shown up these past few days -- and it's quite obvious as to what species of hummer he is.  And he's definitely a he, as only the adult male looks this spectacular --

Meet Mr. Broad-billed hummingbird. He doesn't mind me taking shots with the big 500mm lens -- 

Broad-billeds are summer birds here, which ranges from April to August, but "rare" from September to March, so I write up a report on him to eBird, where the sighting goes into a nationwide database. He's a handsome fella... 

He's usually at the one feeder from 3:30pm until 4, when he's chased off by a resident Anna's..

Here are some more photos from November 13's fall colors hike up South Fork; I just processed them.

Along the unpaved South Fork Road

Arizona Sycamore and other trees (I really have to get a book on botany so I can ID what I see here) 

The new "berm" at the end of  the repaired section of South Fork Road; the rest of the way is rock and rubble from the flood of Hurricane Odile

South Fork Creek and riparian area

Red tree (again, botany book)

The flood from Hurricane Odile created a path of rock and debris and wiped out the riparian area further up the creek

More red

The cascades emptying into a pool

The rubble-filled "road" that will probably never be repaired or restored

I did the hike just in time -- it's supposed to rain here Sunday and Monday, with high winds forecast for Monday...